The present invention relates to a component, such as a blade, having an integral platform for use in a gas turbine engine and a method for forming same.
Turbine blades typically require integral platforms, attached to the root region, to form the inner flowpath, and to protect the rim of the disk from hot gas ingestion. The typical cantilevered platform often has to support Blade-to-blade dampers. The combined load of the overhung platform and damper results in large bending stresses at the point where the platform meets the blade root region.
Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMC) are desired for turbine blades due to their high temperature capability. CMC blades made from layers of cloth or unidirectional tape offer good strength in the primary radial load path. Attaching a platform onto a laminated blade is difficult, and made especially challenging due to the low interlaminar strengths of CMC's. The bending of the platform causes high internal interlaminar stresses, and is a limiter on how long the platforms can function.